Ah, the new carpet smell did not last long – just one week before Dexter puked all over it.  You see, on Thursday, Dexter caught an intestinal bug.  Before I got home on Thursday, Dexter was not feeling so hot.  He skipped his lunch.  Malin needed to rock him back to sleep in order for him to get a decent nap.  And, because Malin is such a conscientious au pair, she made sure he ate some yogurt for his snack.  About a half hour later, that yogurt reappeared and ended up in a long line of puke as Malin swooped him up mid-puke and made for the kitchen sink. 

When I got home, Joel was feverishly cleaning the carpet, and yelling at Nicholas to STAY AWAY.  That put me immediately on Nicky duty, seeing that Malin was holding a very sick Dexter to her chest.  As Joel cleaned, Malin cuddled, and I corralled, the doorbell rang.  It was a young ~20 something young man selling gutter protectors.  Joel opened the door, did not let the man speak, told him no thanks and good luck, and closed the door.  Later that evening, Malin informed us that our house was egged.  Lucky us.  Puke and egg all in one day.

Anyway, I would say this was our first bout with the flu and the boys.  While Nicholas happily ate dinner that night, Dexter had a few bites of dry toast and a couple sips of water which he later spewed up on Joel while they were sitting on the couch.  (Thankfully, we’ve learned to put a blanket over the couch in situations like this and thus the couch was spared having to go through a major clean-up.)  This is when I thought my mommy powers were gone.  You see, I’ve been told REPEATABLY by everyone, that when your own child gets sick, you become immune to the puke.  Well, one sniff of Dexter’s puke had me dry heaving over the couch.  Thus, Joel, covered in puke, cleaned up the whole mess.  What a wonderful husband I have.  We sink washed Dexter and then I held him close while Joel cleaned up.  That’s when I decided to give Dex one little sip of water to clear his mouth.  He then puked on me.  This time, I wasn’t phased.  Maybe the mommy power thing only works when I’m actually puked on, I thought (or maybe the fact that there was no food left in his belly made it less revolting).  I really didn’t want to test the theory though.  In the end, the only food Dexter was able to hold onto was his breakfast from that morning. 

The next morning, Friday, Dexter awoke at 5:30am and would not go back down.  That was after he had been up at midnight, 1am, 2:30am, and 4am.  I figured he had to be hungry so I made Joel get up and help me take the boys, yes, by this time Nicholas was awake too, downstairs for breakfast.  I helped get the toast going and the sippy cups made and then headed back upstairs to get ready for work.  When I came back down, Joel told me with big eyes, that Dexter had downed his WHOLE sippy cup in less than a minute and then drank half of the refill.  He also scarfed his toast down and ate half of his brother’s toast before Joel dumped dry cereal on this tray.  Rather impressive, if you think about it.  The rest of Friday occurred without a hitch.

On Saturday, after another 5:30am wake-up by the boys, I got the bright idea of taking them to the zoo, seeing that sun was peaking out from the clouds.  Dexter was cranky at home that morning, but once in the car, he became smilely and happy.  Nicholas went the other direction and by the time we got to the zoo, Nicky was “no no no” guy.  He just didn’t seem like himself.  Of course they fell asleep on the ride home and Joel and I both had to rock them back to sleep.  Nicky and I ended up downstairs and I let him nap on me for almost 3 hours.  When he awoke, his lip quivered, he cried out in pain, and he had a 101.5 degree fever.  Dexter was now up to and trying to play while Nicholas fell to pieces.  Joel had just finished mowing the yard and went upstairs to shower. 

That’s when it happened.  Nicky turned towards me and just puked all down the front of my shirt.  Banana chunks were everywhere.  Poor baby.  We were both covered in puke.  Then I saw the look in his eyes and told him, “it’s ok honey, just let it out.”  He puked again, this time out his nose, just like his mother does.  I YELLED for Joel and scared the shit out of Nicholas and Dexter.  He wasn’t going to save me this time – he was alreayd in the shower and couldn’t hear me.  Funny, I was fazed by the puke.  Maybe because it smelled like banana, I’m not sure.  As the puke soaked thru my shirt, I undressed Nicky on my lap – down to his puked stained diaper.  Then I asked if he could stand to which he said no.  I held him firmly between my legs and I stripped my shirt off.  I piled all the nasty clothes into a bundle on the blanket that covered the chair we were sitting in and with Nicholas on one hip, I dumped the pile into the utility sink in the laundry room.  We then walked to the kitchen were I called Joel on the intercom connected phone.  “Joel, are you almost done up there?  Nicholas just spewed all over me and I’d like some help.”  He was down in a jiffy.  Another sink bath and Nic and Joel cuddled on the couch while I cleaned up this time.  Almost gagged cleaning the clothes and had to remind myself to breathe through my mouth.

Today is Sunday and Joel and I are both wondering who will be next.  He’s currently not feeling well and skipped dinner just to be on the safe side.  Wish us well.